Blog for 9/10/2023 – Croatia – Hvar – Boat Excursion

I have learned by being in Croatia, that this land is a giant limestone landscape that has been pushed up through the Mediterranean and this is what has created the dynamic scenery that I am seeing here.
Historically, mankind uses the types of building materials that are in their area.
This area has tons of very hard, very high-grade limestone that they have been using for centuries to build homes, temples, streets, and cities.
But this rocky landscape is not the best for other things.
Just like Ireland (that I visited last year), the people of this land have cleared fields … stone by stone and put those stones to the side to create field that might be able to grow food.
But it is a hard job. There is way more stone than soil and that soil is hard, dry, and will only grow crops that can handle the saltiness and rugged raging winds of this area.
The crops of choice are olives, fig trees, and grapes. Unlike in California, where they can grow tall, these crops are close to the ground to protect against the blistering gale force winds that come in the wintertime.
I marvel at the determination and persistence of our ancestors that managed to scratch out a living in such a harsh environment.
While there is bountiful fishing here and that will sustain a great many people, this area is more difficult to grow food.
I have also discovered that the salinity of the Mediterranean is much higher than the Atlantic or the Pacific.
My joke is that figuring out how to drown in this ocean would be difficult.
The saltiness of the fish is also higher than normal. However, it creates the most amazing fish broth for everything because they put in the whole ocean into these broths. It is amazing to taste.
Today, we are going on a speedboat, to see the blue cave and the green cave. We are going to swim in protected coves in the Adriatic and allow this land to continue to detox stress.
I am excited to be on the water. I love boats!

~Suzanne Wagner~